Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

Yaoyorozu shot up on her bed. Her heart was racing, but she couldn’t tell if it was from the sudden awakening, or from the remnants of a dream she could no longer recall. She turned to the desk by her bed, panting as her mind slowly came to. Realizing it had only been her alarm clock, Yaoyorozu groaned and lay back, rolling over on her side and slamming her hand down on her alarm and knocking it from it’s perch beside her bed. “Damn it.” She stared down at the clock, now on the floor. “Well, at least it’s off.”

She was physically exhausted; not just sore, but drained, her muscles weak. Her hands were stiff and aching, like they’d been clenched into fists for hours. She rubbed them together, sitting up and swinging her legs over the side of her bed. What time was it? Yaoyorozu snatched her phone, thinking that maybe her alarm had gone off too early.

“6:30?” Huh. So my alarm was correct. But why do I feel so tired, then? She looked down at herself, taking in her injuries. Her legs were bruised and cut up, and it was the same with her arms. The pain seemed to amplify, worse in the morning than it had been the night before. That’s when the events from the previous day came back to her.

Her and Todoroki had faced one another in the sixteenth battle of the training exercise. She had lasted for about a full twenty minutes of full powered fighting until Todoroki finally pushed her out of bounds. They both had caused considerable damage to one another, but in the end, it was Todoroki who was named victor.

She rubbed her ankle tenderly, where the bruising was the worse, pain shooting through her. “Guess it’s time for school…” she mumbled, then rose to her aching feet to get ready for the day.

~~~~~

Yaoyorozu walked down the hall to classroom 1-A, gripping the strap of her bag tightly. She was running late. Then pain in her right ankle was bugging her all through the morning as she got ready, so she had contacted Recovery Girl to see if she could come in to see her. Of course, the old school nurse didn’t have a problem with it, but Yaoyorozu also learned that she may have sprained it. Recovery Girl had given her a brace for her ankle to get through the day after a little stimulated healing from her quirk, and instructed her to rest as soon as the day was over.

But now, after Recovery Girl’s quirk and the awful night’s sleep she had, Yaoyorozu didn’t even want to move her legs to walk. She felt even more tired than before. I guess she did warn me that I would be exhausted, though. I just chose to ignore it. She made her way to her classroom without running into any unnecessary problems, arriving to class seconds after the bell rang.

"Yaoyorozu. You’re late,” Mr. Aizawa observed as she opened the door. Everyone’s eyes were on the Class Representative Deputy, and she looked down at the ground before replying.

“I went to see Recovery Girl. I was a little late getting to class today. I apologize,” she said with a slight bow, her raven hair a black curtain that shielded her face from the class as it fell from behind her ear. She didn’t have the time to put it up that morning and didn’t want to mess with it out of the fear of being late, rushing.

"Don’t let it happen again,” he warned sternly. Yaoyorozu nodded as she started her way back to her desk in the corner of the room, ignoring the multiple stares she received in the process.

“It won’t.”

Yaoyorozu took her seat, placing her bag at her side as she pulled out her textbook like everyone else. Some of her classmates were still watching her, and she already had a pretty good idea of who they might be.

"Yaoyorozu?” She glanced in Todoroki’s direction as she heard his voice. “Are you okay?”

She nodded absently to his question, following along with Mr. Aizawa as he continued with his lesson. She could tell Todoroki wanted to keep asking her questions, but he bit his tongue and copied her, returning his focus to his own textbook. Yaoyorozu leaned the side of her face against the palm of her hand as she listened to Aizawa’s lecture, honestly not really focusing quite as well as everyone else. Grant you, it was a Monday, and everyone was mostly half-asleep at this time, but Yaoyorozu was always one of the people who were bright and awake and ready to engage in whatever they had planned. Now she was one of the zombies in class. She could feel herself beginning to doze off, but she tried to fight it, blinking rapidly and widening her eyes as they threatened to close, trying to keep herself awake.

Hopefully I can make it through the day.

Todoroki was a little shocked to see Yaoyorozu come in late. She was never late for anything, especially school. What’s worse was that she looked terrible. She looked almost as sleep deprived as their homeroom teacher himself. She was wearing her hair down, which was unusual all by itself; she always wore her hair up in class. Is she okay? She looks like a mess. She also had mentioned going to see Recovery Girl. Did she get hurt or something? Or was it from the injuries she sustained during battle training yesterday?

As Yaoyorozu walked toward him to get to her desk, he noticed her ankle wrapped up, along with bruising peeking out from beneath her knee-high black socks, so he was assuming it had been from battle training. But then why does she look so tired? Just seeing her in this state makes me concerned. Todoroki tried to ask her if she was okay, but she only nodded. She wasn’t replying verbally, another thing that stuck out.

He looked over again after a while only to find her with her arms folded in front of her on her book, her head resting on top. She was asleep.

“Yaoyorozu?” Todoroki looked up to see that Mr. Aizawa had stopped class again. “Yaoyorozu?”

Her head bounced up, her eyes still half-closed. “H-huh?”

Mr. Aizawa gave her a curious look, then sighed deeply. “Do you need to leave class?” He asked. She straightened in her seat and shook her head, rubbing one of her eyes.

“N-no. No, I don’t. I just fell asleep. I’m sorry. Please, proceed,” she insisted. With a long exhale, he did as she said and carried on with the lesson, which to be honest, Todoroki was hardly even listening to anymore. He was openly staring at Yaoyorozu, worried for multiple reasons now. He glanced toward the front of the room, catching Jiro’s eyes. She looked concerned, too. So I’m not the only one.

As Todoroki looked back at Yaoyorozu, she was staring fixedly at her book, her cheeks dusted red as her eyes trailed the pages. She looked embarrassed. But knowing her, he wouldn’t be surprised. Just in the first few minutes of class, she’d already gained the entire class’s attention twice. Yaoyorozu didn’t like unwanted attention like that.

At the end of class, him and Jiro were already at Yaoyorozu’s desk when the lunch bell rang, dismissing everyone. She looked up at them, confused and a little dazed.

"Do you need something?” She questioned.

“Yaomomo, are you okay? You look dead,” Jiro asked. She nodded.

"Of course I am. I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

"Okay. Momo, first you’re late to class with your hair down, which - if I may add - covers half of your face; then you stop listening in class; then you fall asleep and call all this attention to yourself? Please tell me you’re not becoming emo,” Jiro said, kneeling down beside Yaoyorozu’s chair and brushing her hair away from her face. She laughed at her friend’s concern.

"I’m fine, Kyoka. Really. I just didn’t sleep well, that’s all. I’ll be better by tomorrow,” she assured them. Todoroki frowned and shook his head.

"Yaoyorozu, maybe you should go ask if you can go see Recovery Girl again. Maybe she’ll let you rest up a little before rejoining the class. If you’re falling asleep not even halfway through a lesson, then maybe you shouldn’t be in class right now,” he said. She almost looked hurt hearing it from him.

“Todoroki, I’m okay. I’m perfectly fine, just a little tired. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m gonna go head to lunch. Some food might help wake me up.”
   
“Wait, did you not eat or something this morning?”
  
She stuttered briefly before answering him. “N-no...not exactly…”
   
"What?” Jiro nearly screeched. ”Momo, you have to eat! You can’t just starve yourself.”
   
"Starve myself? I just didn’t have enough time to eat breakfast. I’m not starving myself, Jiro. If I was, then I wouldn’t be getting lunch. Anyway,” she rose to her feet. “That’s where I’m going now. I’m meeting Iida at his table today, discussing some class representative duties. I’ll see you guys after.” She waved to them as she exited the classroom, disappearing down the hall before either of them could respond. Todoroki and Jiro exchanged nervous looks.

“You don’t think she’s…” Jiro trailed off, her expression falling away into something Todoroki couldn’t quite name. “Do you?”
   
He shrugged, not exactly sure what she meant. “I don’t know. It may just be from yesterday. We should just leave her be.”

Jiro growled to herself. “I swear to god. That girl is gonna drive herself near crazy with her dream to become a hero.  She really needs to cool it and calm down sometimes; like take a breather and a much needed break.”

“She’s probably just tired.”

“Obviously. She was just face down on her desk not too long ago.” Jiro rubbed her hands together.

“Maybe we should just wait until tomorrow. She’ll probably be back to normal by then.” He scratched the nape of his neck. “I kind of feel a little bad. Maybe I went a little too hard on her during battle training...”

“Todoroki, you weren’t supposed to hold back. You kept your promise that you would give it your all, and that’s what you both did. Don’t feel bad, man. Momo just pushes herself a little too hard sometimes.”

“Hope you’re right."

~~~~~

Yaoyorozu stood in the lunch line, waiting to get her food. She felt kind of bad for leaving Jiro and Todoroki like that, but she didn’t want to be bombarded with questions. She rubbed her arm, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. Some food will help.

She cried out in surprise as she was tugged by the arm, pulled off to the side and away from the line of students.  Yaoyorozu grew surprised as she came face to face with Iida.

“I-Iida-san. Wh-what are you doing?” Yaoyorozu asked, sighing in relief now that she knew who it was who had dragged her away from the crowd. “I thought you told me to meet you at your table.”

“Yaoyorozu-san, I’m a little worried about you. I saw you come to class late, and I know that’s not like you. You’re always on time to class, if not early. Are you feeling alright? You’re as pale as a ghost,” he remarked. She looked up at his hand as he pressed the back of it to her forehead, then her cheek. “And you’re burning up! Are you sure you’re not sick or something?”

Yaoyorozu took his hand and lowered it from her face. “What is with everyone today? I’m okay. I just didn’t fall asleep until later last night, and now I’m really tired. Recovery Girl helped with my ankle, which also took a lot more out of me.” She dropped his hand as she peered back at the other students. “I’m sorry if I’m a little drowsy today. I’ll be back to myself by tomorrow. I promise.”
  
Iida glanced back up at the surrounding crowd, guiding her to a more secluded corner to talk. “Yaoyorozu, I think you should go home and get some rest. And if not home, then go back to the Height’s Alliance. If you can barely keep yourself awake, you should ask Mr. Aizawa or even All Might if you can leave early. I can ask for you if you’re afraid of asking them yourself.” Yaoyorozu shook her head.
   
“I appreciate it, but no. I can make it through the day. I’m perfectly capable of pulling through just like everyone else in this school.”
   
“Yaoyorozu, I don’t think anyone who knows you would want you to cause yourself harm, and I include myself among them. I wouldn’t want to see you get hurt,” he stated firmly.
   
"Why does everyone keep worrying so much? I’m fine. I don’t want to go back to the dorms. I am perfectly fine.” Yaoyorozu lowered her head as she placed her hand near her temple, rubbing the side of her skull as it began to ache.
   
"I strongly suggest you take my advice and go home,” he insisted. She closed her eyes. “Please?” She didn’t answer for a long moment. But after she met Tenya’s worried gaze, she finally gave in.
   
"Fine,” She mumbled. He smiled, patting Yaoyorozu’s shoulder.
   
“Thank you. You can go back to the dorms. I’ll tell the faculty that I sent you home because you were sick. They should listen to class 1-A’s representative, right?” Yaoyorozu nodded.
   
“Thank you, Iida-san,” She said. He smiled, pushing his glasses up on his nose.
   
“My pleasure, Yaoyorozu. It’s the least I can do for a fellow class representative.”
   
She offered him a smile as she began to walk away, stepping back into the crowd of students. “I’ll see you later, then, Iida.”
   
“See you later.”
   
Yaoyorozu made her way through the groups of students, attempting to make it to the door without running into either Jiro or Todoroki. Anyone from class 1-A in general. To her luck, she did just that, making it all the way to the Height’s Alliance, the girls’ wing, and into her room, immediately going to her bed and laying down. She kicked off her shoes. I owe Iida after this. I’ll have to make it up to him. He could get in trouble for something like this; I wouldn’t want that. She rolled onto her back, staring up at the ceiling.

~~~~~

Jiro: [Where's Yaoyorozu at?]

Todoroki: [I’m not sure. I didn’t see her at lunch. I didn’t see Iida either. It was just Midoriya and Uraraka today at their table.]

Jiro: [Oh I hope she’s okay. I’m hoping she didn’t have to go see Recovery Girl again.]

Todoroki startled as the door opened, hiding his phone as their class rep strode into the room and straight to Mr. Aizawa. He leaned over, whispering something to our teacher, who then nodded in return. “Very well. Next time ask, alright?”

“Understood,” Iida responded, returning to his desk. Todoroki looked over at Jiro, who shrugged.
   
“Alright, class, I’m needed at a faculty meeting. I’m leaving your class representative in charge until I get back. Please, just...don’t destroy my classroom until then, okay?” Everyone voiced promises and choruses of agreement, and he walked out of the room.
   
After waiting a few seconds to allow Mr. Aizawa to get a little farther down the hall, the class erupted into loud chatter, students moving around the room to talk to friends. Todoroki decided to confront Iida, Jiro accompanying him as he reached his desk.
   
“Hey, Iida. Do you, by chance, know where Yaomomo is?” Jiro asked before Todoroki could. Iida nodded, his eyes shut as he answered them.
   
"Yes. I sent her home.”
   
"What? Why?” Todoroki questioned. Iida gave him a peculiar look, but he didn’t respond.
   
“She wasn’t feeling well, so I sent her back to the dorms,” he explained.
   
“So Yaoyorozu just packed up her things and left, no questions asked?” Jiro questioned further. “Momo isn’t like that; she would’ve put up a fight.”
   
“She did. She told me that she was perfectly capable of progressing through the day’s activities, but I insisted she go home. She left during lunch. I was absent during our lunch hour since I was informing the faculty that she was going home and wouldn’t be back for the rest of the day.”
   
That explains why the two of them were gone, Todoroki concluded. But why would she agree to go? “Still, she would have at least told us, right? Iida, are you sure you’re telling us the truth?” Jiro was frowning, her arms crossed over her chest.
   
“Why would I lie to you? Especially about one of our friends? I don’t lie unless it’s absolutely necessary for the well being of another.  And if you couldn’t already tell, that doesn’t happen very frequently,” he replied, sounding offended. “You two should really take this time and study for the upcoming test instead of interrogating me because Yaoyorozu left early.”
   
Jiro rolled her eyes with a scoff. “Whatever. I don’t care anymore; I can talk to Momo about it later.” With that, she went back to her desk, almost immediately plugging her earphone jack into her phone, most likely to listen to music. Todoroki took one last glance at Iida, then returned to his own seat. Yaoyorozu will come back to class tomorrow. She’s gotta be back to normal by then, right? And If she’s still acting out, then I’ll question her about it. He pulled out his phone again, ignoring the distractions of his fellow classmates. Hopefully she’s back to normal by then, though.